To The Future
by Tsukuyomi-chan
Summary: Year 3759, where the world has been taken over by Void. And deep within the ruins of what used to be society, there's the Resistance and its leader, Kai Toshiki. When a girl named Sendou Aichi gets taken to his base, things are forever changed for humanity. Void is coming, and it is getting stronger by the second. Kaichi. KaixFem!Aichi.
1. Rescue

**Me: Okay people! Basically, I had a dream. It was the freaking best dream ever. Kaichi EVERYWHERE! It was awesome! And then I woke up and was so sad, cause I wanted to make it last! So I wrote it down! Enjoy the stuff which originated from a weird dream I had!**

**Astral: This story includes blood, violence, hence the T warning. Aichi is a girl in this one, so there will hopefully be no complaints about the Yaoi, since this technically isn't. Is it yaoi if one is genderbent into a girl?**

**Me: No idea! Any of you know? I think this is just half Yaoi, cause Aichi's a girl in this. Anyway, don't own Cardfight Vanguard, wish I did, you have been warned about the Genderbending, and enjoy! Honestly, the only reason Aichi's a girl is because if I'm gonna write a continuous fanfic about a couple, I need it to be straight. No offense, I love yaoi! It's just I'm incapable of keeping up with it for a long time. Anyways, yeah!**

**Astral: She has quite the ideas for this. There will be a new way to cardfight introduced in this, along with new cards and people.**

* * *

**To The Future**

**Chapter 1: Rescue**

Year 3759, where Void has taken over the world. Most people have been taken over by Void and now serve it. The few who haven't are in hiding from the ones who are. If anyone gets caught, they're brought back and Void will take them over. With the world in ruins, people are struggling to survive off of whatever's left. There's no hope left in this rotten world. Or so it seems….

_**-linebreak-**_

They kept coming. They kept coming. She sliced through another two peoples' sides, making them fall to the ground lifeless, tears streaming down her face. Five more came towards her. The sword was sharp. It went through them like they weren't even there. And then she was surrounded by corpses of what used to be people.

"Somebody… help…" She whimpered, curling up in a corner of what used to be her home, hugging her sword tight. It was all she had left, the sword and her cards. She didn't know why she kept her cards around, since they weren't practical at all. But she just couldn't get rid of them. They were precious to her, especially her sword. It was once a card too. But then, when that dark force came to Earth, people changed. And when people began attacking and hurting him, she had wanted so desperately to be strong enough to protect herself, to protect something at all, to not be helpless like she usually was, it had transformed into a sword. Blaster Blade.

This wasn't a card game anymore though. This was war. And she was on the losing side.

After all, in the end, Sendou Aichi was no good at anything.

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

There was a quiet sob from underneath the rubble of a building. A blond-haired teen heard the sound and lifted his head to look around in a slight panic. He held up his weapons blaster as he motioned to the others in his patrol party to come that way.

'Miwa, what's up?' Morikawa had sent him the message on the Aegis on his arm.

'I heard something, come on.' Miwa sent back. It could be dangerous, and with the entire city in ruins around the three teens, who knew what could be lurking.

Miwa approached the wall cautiously, in case it was a Voided person. There were hardly any survivors these days, and the patrols around areas usually just resulted in one or two Void members, or none at all. He sighed. Kai was always so cautious about everything. Their security was top-notch back at the base, there's no way any assault from Void would break through it. One or two people definitely couldn't do anything.

He lifted his blaster and put his back against the wall, peeking around the side of it, breathing as quietly as he could. Morikawa and Izaki, two of his friends on the squad joined him against the wall. Miwa lifted three fingers to countdown. Two. One.

"HAH!" Miwa yelled as he jumped around the side and pointed his blaster in all directions blindly, Morikawa and Izaki following.

There was a sword flash, and the three of their blasters all were slashed to bits, dropping to the ground uselessly. Miwa stared. Those were the latest model blasters, able to sense out Void energies and with enough blasts from the gun, would be able to blast the Void from the person. The person who Void had been possessing was always put in a coma afterwards, and they still hadn't found out a way to revive the person. The guns were supposed to be impervious to every attack out there. And yet…

"What…" Miwa looked at what, or who, was at the base of the wall. A girl around their age was crouching in the corner in a panic. She had long, dirty blue hair that was choppy around the edges, and was wearing a pair of dirty pants along with a matching shirt that had been ruined so much the color wasn't visible anymore. She was cowering in the corner, extremely scared and holding out the strangest sword Miwa had ever seen at them.

The sword was white, with blue edges and designs on it. In the middle of the hilt was a small red gem. Even though the welder was shaking and scared, the sword glowed slightly with power. He had seen that sword somewhere before, but he wasn't sure where…

"H-Hey," Miwa reached out a hand slowly. "Are you okay?"

The sword swung near his face, and he jumped back in shock. The girl had stood up, eyeing them nervously and holding the sword out, ready to use it on any of them.

"S-S-Stay back… p-please… no more…" He heard her mutter, breathing heavily, fear practically emanating off of her body. "G-Go away… Zombies…"

"Zombies?" Miwa studied the girl. She didn't seem to be possessed by Void, and most likely she had been surviving from the Void with that sword of hers. Zombies was probably what she was calling those she had encountered who had been taken over. He took a step towards her, and she trembled more.

"It's okay, we're fighting those zombies too." Miwa said, and the girl seemed to calm down slightly. "We have a base where we're hiding from them, although they're really just people who've been taken over by Void. I'm Miwa Taishi. This is Morikawa Katsumi and Izaki Yuuta." Morikawa waved at her. "We're fighting Void. Do you want to come with us?"

The girl looked up at him in surprise. How long had it been since she had heard actual, human voices and not the voices of Void. This person was actually nice and trying to help her. How long had it been since she had felt any shred of kindness. For the first time in six months, she actually felt hopeful. She nodded.

Miwa smiled. "What's your name."

"S-Sendou Aichi…"

_**-linebreakofsomesort-**_

"Come on, it's this way." Miwa said, motioning her to follow him through the crumbling streets of the destroyed town. The sidewalk was fractured, and a bit of blood was splattered here and there. It was like the apocalypse had come, had a party in the entire world, and then gone off home. Although technically, Void still hadn't left their planet. The apocalypse was still going.

"Hey Miwa," Morikawa whispered as he and Izaki caught up to Miwa. Aichi was still lagging behind, her legs not used to traveling long distances. "You sure it's safe bringing another person inside the base? We don't find people these days, and for all we know, this girl coulda been possessed by Void."

"We gotta be careful." Izaki said.

"Yeah…" Miwa looked back at Aichi, who had stopped and was leaning on that sword of hers for support while catching her breath. "That sword looks familiar though…. Besides, if she's really just an innocent person, we can't just leave her out here."

They came across a large apartment building, which seemed to be in better shape than every other building in the area, and stopped at the entrance. A mechanical device on the side of the entrance scanned Miwa's eye, and then opened the door. The four of them walked through the doors.

"Welcome back." A man with green hair and glasses sitting at a desk said. He was typing on a computer, and a dark grey cat sat next to him on the desk. The cat meowed happily at them.

The man looked up from his computer at them, then raised an eyebrow. "You found someone?"

"Yeah…" Miwa said.

The man readjusted his glasses. "Well this is a surprise. I suppose I should just notify him now then?"

"Um, maybe you could, wait a bit?" Miwa said nervously.

"You know what he's like about stuff like this… maybe wait a bit…" Izaki said, looking off in a random direction.

"Hmph! He's no match for me anyway!" Morikawa bragged.

Aichi looked at them all in confusion, clutching her sword closer. "W-Who are you talking about?"

Suddenly, there was an ear piercing roar of a dragon outside. Everyone in the lobby of the building held their ears as the roar got closer.

"Ahehe…" Miwa laughed nervously. "Well then…"

The doors opened, and a person in blue armour and a helmet with a red scarf flying out behind him walked in. He was holding a red and gold shield in one hand, and a huge, flaming spear in the other. Beyond the doors, Aichi could see a red dragon dressed in armor standing on the ground, awaiting its master's orders. **(A/N: Dragon Knight, Nehalem)**

The man's armour and weaponry glowed on his body, then disappeared, leaving a black jacket with a white shirt underneath, along with jeans and black shoes. Now that the helmet was gone, Aichi could see the man's face. He had brown hair spiked to the side, along with green eyes. Aichi had seen him before somewhere before, she was sure of it…

"Miwa, how did the patrol go?" Kai said to Miwa in a cold tone.

"Yo, Kai! Well, same old same old, except," Miwa smiled, then put an arm on Aichi's shoulder and leaned on her. "We found somebody!"

Kai looked at him, his expression unchanging. Then the spear from before appeared in his hand and he thrust it at Miwa's face. Just before it collided with his left eye, the shield that Kai was holding before appeared in Miwa's hand and blocked the attack. Spear and shield hit each other with a loud clang. The two guys looked at each other in the eye for a silently scary 10 seconds, although it felt like 10 minutes, before Kai drew back, sighing and the spear disappearing in his hand. "Well, at least you haven't gone completely incompetent."

"Still as harsh as ever, I see." Miwa cocked his head to one side, smiling.

"Still as soft as ever, I see." Kai retorted, then turned his attention to Aichi.

"We're going to have to take her for questioning, along with testing for Void and then decide what to do with her." He said.

"I-Isn't that a little harsh?" Miwa said as Kai began walking away.

"You're the one who said I was harsh. Now come on, and bring her too."

"Oi! Wait up Kai!" Miwa yelled. He motioned for Aichi to follow him, then began chasing after Kai into an elevator. Eventually, Aichi caught up with them. She still had trouble running, and leaned on the wall of the elevator as they went up the stories of the building.

In the lobby, Izaki let out a breath he had been holding in ever since Kai had entered the building. "Oh thank god. He forgot about us. Talk about good luck, right Morikawa?"

"No no no!" He heard Morikawa shout and turned around to see what was wrong with his friend. There, he saw Morikawa crouched in the corner, holding a rare booster pack ripped open and staring at the five cards he got. "None of these are Grade 3s! They're junk!"

"Morikawa! You know how rare cards are, don't just throw them away!" Izaki yelled as he ran to Morikawa.

_**-linebreakofosmesort-**_

In the elevator, Aichi looked at Kai and Miwa, who had started a conversation whispering to each other again. She couldn't hear what they were saying though. Miwa seemed nice, and he was a bit funny too. Kai was…. She couldn't describe him yet. He just seemed so, enigmatic? Wasn't that one of the words her mom once used to describe school before Void.

Her mom. Oh gosh, she accidentally thought about the past again. Now wasn't the time for that. She had finally found some other people. Now was the time to move forwards, not look back.

Aichi took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. It had been months since her last interaction with technology. How had they managed to keep all this stuff even after the apocalypse happened?

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Kai and Miwa walked out, Aichi following in their heels. They walked into an office at the end of the hall. The office was small, with a desk in the middle and large windows behind it, with chairs in front of the desk. Kai sat at the desk, with Miwa pulling up a chair beside him. Aichi didn't know what to do, so she sat down on one of the chairs nervously.

"As you most likely know," Kai started, "Void came to our planet 5 months ago and just about destroyed everything."

"Y-Yeah…" Aichi said, fiddling with her fingers and not meeting his look.

"Ever since then, we've been hiding here, building forces to fight back against it. We've gathered enough supplies to keep some people living here. You can stay as well. We have spare rooms."

"Oh… thanks…" Aichi said, hugging her sword instinctively. Kai noticed it, reacting ever so slightly.

"That sword? Is it your vanguard's?"

Aichi looked at him with questioning eyes. Vanguard's? "U-Uh, I don't know…"

"It seems like it." Miwa said. "Do you know how to use it? If so you could work in our warriors."

"U-Use? W-Warriors? I-I can't do something like that…"

"Do you know how to reverse it back into a card? It'll get tiring always carrying it around in its actual form." Miwa added.

"Back to a card?" Aichi thought about it. One day, her precious card just turned into a sword when she needed it to. She thought it was just a coincidence. "It can go back?"

"Yeah. See." Miwa touched the hilt of the sword and focused. The sword shrunk down in Aichi's hands until it turned into its original form, the vanguard card Blaster Blade. Aichi stared at it in surprise. She was so used to it being a sword that its card form seemed so much smaller than it actually was.

"Woah! That really is a Blaster Blade!" Miwa looked at the card and laughed. "Man that's one rare card!"

"Miwa, sit down." Kai said. "We'll work out something for you. For now, you can stay in room 606. Follow the signs to find it." He tossed a key onto the table and Aichi took it nervously. "We have breakfast at 7 am sharp, then at 8 come down to the gym. That's all."

"Okay." Aichi said, assuming that meant she was on her own then. She stood up, bowed to them, then walked out of the room. When she was out, she took a deep breath. Still as shy as ever, and no real human interaction for 5 months didn't exactly make it better.

Oh well, she found people, nice people, and they were actually helping. That was good! It felt nice to be around real people, as opposed to what that Kai had called it, people possessed by Void. She followed the room signs, went to the sixth floor, and used the key to enter her new room. It was a standard hotel room, with a bed, a table and a chair, a sink, and a bathroom in a corner.

She walked to the bed and collapsed onto it. It was soft and comforting. The feeling was actually a bit foreign, since she had been sleeping on dirt just yesterday. An actual bed was nice. It had been a tiring day, since she walked nearly two miles just to get to this place. Sleep would be nice…

And so Sendou Aichi fell asleep on the bed, still fully dressed, and still holding onto her Blaster Blade card.

_**-yeahthisisjustalinebreakignoreit-**_

"You could have said more you know!" Miwa said, his face resting on his left hand as he leaned on Kai's desk.

"There was nothing to say." Kai said simply, reading over some documents sent over from a base to the east.

"Oh come on. That girl had the Blaster Blade card! That's really rare!" Miwa continued.

"And so what? Are we supposed to treat her special just because she got lucky before the invasion?"

Miwa sighed. His friend was really thick sometimes. "Tomorrow's gonna be fun you know!"

"That's just you talking." Kai replied.

"Nope! I got the feeling in my gut! And you're going to enjoy it!"

"Forget it Miwa."

"Oh cheer up for once!"

"Never."

"Whatever! I gotta go check on the food supplies! See ya!" Miwa waved and exited the room. Kai looked out the window behind him.

Blaster Blade. Was it really the same as the one 7 years ago? Even if it did, what did it matter now?

Tomorrow would be interesting. Miwa was no Misaki, or even a prophet, but he might have been right on that matter. Tomorrow would be very interesting.

* * *

**Me: Oh jeez, I wrote this, then forgot about it for so long! I have literally been waiting for Link Joker to come out JUST for the purpose of this fanfic! Gods! But hooray it's finally out I can do something productive!**

**Astral: Homework.**

**Me: ACK! Oh right! While I do my homework, please leave a review! Bye!**

**Astral: And one more thing. She will accept some OCs for this. But only through PMs.**

**Me: Any put in reviews will not be allowed automatically without looking. There's gonna be a LOT of stuff happening! So accepting OCs for limited time, review, and I'm off! KAICHI! I actually got an idea on where this should go!**


	2. First Attempts

**Me: Kay kay, kay kay, let's see. For purposes, Emi is going to be Misaki's little sister instead of Aichi's in this fanfic. Well, in MiniVan, it's been stated that she'd like a big sister like Misaki, so it's almost all good.**

**Astral: The OCs who are used in this chapter will be given credit at the end, along with some general information. Tsu gives thanks to all of you for submitting.**

**Me: AHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Astral: She also went a bit crazy from how many people gave her characters. Too happy.**

**Me: We do not own Cardfight Vanguard! Astral! Happy dance with me!**

**Astral: No.**

**Me: Meanie!**

* * *

**Chapter 2: First Attempts**

"Wake up, wake up!"

"Ugh… five more minutes…" Aichi groaned into the pillow, not wanting to get up ever. The bed was too soft, the pillow was too fluffy, the blankets were too warm, she just wanted to stay like this forever. Yeah, that would be nice…

"Wake up!" Someone shook her, and she yelled in shock as she woke up to see a young girl with short, light brown hair and clean, casual clothes. Aichi stared at her.

"W-Who…."

"I'm Tokura Emi! Miwa-kun asked me to come wake you up since you were running late." Emi said. "Breakfast began 30 minutes ago, and if you don't head down all of the good food will be taken."

"Huh?" Aichi sat up. "Food?!"

"Yeah. Here." Emi put a stack of clothing on the bed. "Your old clothes was all ripped shreds, so we got some new ones. Mai-chan's a good sewer."

"Oh, thanks…" Aichi picked up the clothes, looking at them and wondering if they would work. "They're nice."

She went into the bathroom and put on the clothes. A red sweater with a small, light blue jacket with black designs on it, and dark blue jeans with blue shoes. It fit nicely, and felt good. She walked out to see Emi making the bed for her. Emi looked at her and smiled. "Great! They fit!"

"Yeah." Aichi nodded. "So… where's breakfast happening?"

"Let's go." Emi said, and the two girls walked out of the room, all the way downstairs to the first floor, where a huge cafeteria filled with people sitting in seats were. There had to be at least 500 people in there. It made Aichi nervous, all these people there, talking, eating, doing stuff she hadn't seen for so long. She shivered without meaning to.

"They saved you a seat." Emi pointed at a table in the middle of the room, where Miwa, Morikawa, Izaki, Kai, and some others were sitting. "Come on!"

"O-Oh, okay…" Aichi walked slowly, so slowly that Emi had to push her to the centre where the others were. Miwa waved at her nicely, and she sat down in between him and Morikawa, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Here you go." A girl with cranberry-colored hair in a braid and blue eyes gave her a tray of food, setting it down before her on the table. She also gave one to Miwa and Kai.

"T-Thanks…" Aichi said.

"Thanks." Kai said. The girl blushed slightly before running off. Aichi stared.

"That girl, Hiromi, she's been eyeing Kai for a while." Miwa whispered to Aichi when he noticed her staring. "Although Kai has no idea, either that or he doesn't care."

Aichi nodded slowly.

"Well, don't be too bothered by it. Eat up! We got a lot to go over today!"

Aichi nodded again, and picked up her fork slowly, staring at the food in front of her. That was bacon, and that was… toast? Those were tomatoes, she thought. Actual food. She poked the tomato slice with a fork, picking it up and putting it in her mouth. It was juicy. It was soft. It was delicious.

"You haven't eaten in a while, have you?" Izaki, sitting next to Morikawa, asked her when he saw her put everything on the plate in her mouth as fast as she could. Aichi shook her head, chewing on some bacon.

"Are you Sendou Aichi?" Aichi turned around to see a girl slightly older than her with red eyes and purple hair tied back with a yellow headband. She wore a tight black shirt and shorts, and looked pretty serious. Aichi nodded slowly. "I'm Okada Yukari, in charge of your orientation around the place. We have lots to cover today, so there's no time to lose."

She took Aichi's hand, dragging her out of the cafeteria.

_**-linebreak-**_

"There's three ranks to this place now. Think of it sort of like a pyramid." The two girls were in Yukari's room, and white board next to Yukari as she drew a pyramid divided into three parts, the top being the smallest and the bottom being the biggest. She labelled the bottom area 'civilians'. "The bottom rank are the civilians. The regular people who have been able to find shelter here. They take jobs such as growing food, making meals, taking care of armour and weapons, keeping track of security, and other regular jobs needed in society. There are around four thousand of them here at our base."

"Four thousand?!" Aichi stared.

"This is a very big apartment, much bigger than it seems." Yukari replied. "But even still, four thousand compared to how many were taken over by Void, that's not a lot. Plus the civilians can't fight. That brings us to the next level." She labelled the middle part 'warriors'. "The warriors, or the avatars. These are the people who are able to bond with one of their cards, their avatars. They take on the form and powers of their avatar, and can fight. That's around 500 people here."

"So five hundred warriors…" Aichi said slowly.

"And then there's the third class." Yukari said, labelling the tiny top of the pyramid 'vanguard'. "The cardfighters, or as we call them, the vanguards. Sometimes there are stronger than average Voided humans, or sometimes units possessed by Void come down to attack. That's when we need the vanguards. While they can double as warriors, they can also cardfight and have their own cardfight vanguard deck. When Void came, its first move was to take over people and destroy all of the cards that could oppose them as quickly as possible. As a result, there aren't many cards left, and those lucky enough to still have their original deck can become our strongest weapons against them."

"Vanguards… cardfight vanguard…" Aichi absorbed the information.

"And the way the vanguards beat them is through a cardfight, through this." Yukari held out her left arm, where a silver metal device was attached to the lower half. It had one circle on it. Yukari pressed a button on the side, and it made a beeping noise, folding outwards at all sides until it was a large board, with six circles on it, three in two rows. There was a small strip on the side, and a slit on the other side. "A Vanguard Aegis. We can vanguard fight through this. Do you know how to cardfight? I heard from Kai that you have an avatar. Do you have a deck?"

"I… have a deck… although I never learned how to cardfight." Aichi took out her deck and looked at it. She looked at Yukari, who was studying her. "Um, Yukari-san. If you have an Aegis, are you a vanguard then?"

Yukari nodded. She took out a card from a deck case attached to her waist and placed it on the main circle on the board. Suddenly, she glowed with light, and then was wearing a long-sleeved blue shirt ripped off in the middle so her midriff was visible, with matching blue shorts and a blue sheet coming from the back. She held a machine gun in one hand and a missile launcher in the other. There was a blue hat on her head, with her purple hair covering one eye. Purple plates were on her legs as armour, with another one in the middle of her forehead. "See, this is how we do it. My avatar is Battle Sister Tart, so I can take the form of her for battle. Who's yours?"

"Um," Aichi took out the top card of her deck. "Blaster Blade."

Yukari raised one eyebrow. "The actual Blaster Blade? That's impressive. But you have a deck. That means we have people to add to the vanguards."

"How many vanguards do we have here?" Aichi asked.

"Including you now, 114." Yukari answered. "With half of them not very strong. Anyways, I've taught you the basics. Takuma's gotta get you fitted with weapons and armour, and then we go back to the main hall with the others for regular sparing."

_**BOOOOM**_

Aichi screamed in shock as Yukari ran to the window of the room and looked outside. She growled.

"Attackers. Let's go!"

"G-Go where?" Aichi panicked as Yukari dashed out of the room. She didn't know what to do, but followed her out anyways.

_**-linebreak-**_

The front of Base Q4 was chaos. Aichi hadn't noticed before, but there was a huge, red, transparent barrier around the entire area of the apartment building. Giant bugs on the outside were hammering on it, along with at least a hundred Voided humans as well, both unable to get in.

"Takuma, situation." Kai said at the front of the band of people gathered outside, not taking his eyes off of the oncoming threat for a second. A man next to him was scanning the crowd with binoculars through his glasses, with limp black hair and a black coat with grey jeans.

"Megacolony. Many units, around two hundred. Voided humans 110 to 150. There's one at the head, no doubt a cardfighter. Definitely using a Megacolony deck." Takuma responded, still looking through the binoculars at the scene.

"If it's Megacolony it would be best to let Kamui handle the situation, although he's busy at a meeting with S.I.T. and won't be back until tomorrow or next week." Miwa said. "What'll you do, Kai?"

"I'll take care of it. Rest of you, take care of the minor ones." Kai responded.

"U-Um, w-what's going on?" Aichi asked quietly as she came up to them. Kai frowned, and Miwa looked at her.

"An attack. This might be a bit sudden, but you'll need to learn how to fight now." Miwa said. Aichi stared. What?

Something flew at her, and she caught it. A metal device. A Vanguard Aegis. White with blue trim on it. She looked up at Kai, who had tossed it to her.

"Here. Use it." He said. He held three fingers in the air, and the entire crowd of people became quiet. Two fingers. One finger.

One by one, everybody around them active their Vanguard Aegis, glowing with light and transforming into a warrior, charging forwards.

Aichi watched them nervously. She took a deep breath, then put the device on her arm. It was lighter than it seemed, and fit perfectly.

"Okay, um… you put the card on the middle circle…" She took out her deck, sifting through the cards for Blaster Blade and took it out. "Wait, is it on? Is there an on switch on this? How do I use this?!"

"Behind you!" She turned around to see a huge giant with brown and gold armor staring down at her. It had six wings, and two large swords almost twice the size of her. The top of its head stuck out, like a stag beetle's horn. **(A/N: Martial Arts Mutant, Master Beetle) **It was terrifying. One of the swords began swinging down towards her, and she shut her eyes.

There was a clang of metal, and Aichi opened her eyes, seeing a man in red armour standing in front of her. He had blocked the huge sword with a jousting lance. Brown hair was tied back with a red strip through his hair. **(A/N: Thunderstorm Dragoon) **He fought the sword away, and a huge thunder dragon next to him wrestled the mutant beetle away. Aichi stared as the man turned around, and she saw it was Kai, frowning at her.

"What are you waiting for?" He barked.

"I-I don't know how to use this!" Aichi held out the Vanguard Aegis. Kai growled, sliding it onto her arm and then pressing a button. It hummed to life, and he grabbed the hand she was holding Blaster Blade in, pressing it down on the middle circle.

Aichi yelled in surprise as all the sudden, she was covered in white armour from head to toe, with blue clothing underneath. Her blue hair stuck out from underneath the helmet, and she held the sword that had been her lifeline for so many months in her hand. She was Blaster Blade….

"Well?! Attack something!" Kai yelled to her as he rode on the back of the thunder dragon, striking the huge Master Beetle. Aichi turned around, and stabbed a huge millipede coming too close to her with a scream. It dropped to the ground, dissolving apart. She stared. That didn't happen with humans…

Kai struck the leader of the Megacolony units again, and it made an inhumane sound. His lance wasn't doing any good against the armour of the mutant. He frowned, then pressed a button on his Vanguard Aegis, making the front row fold out. Two cards flew out from the deck case on his side, onto the two empty rearguard circles. Flashes of light next to him formed two more dragons, one orange and mechanical, the other red and gold, with thunder running through its wings. "Call! Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda! Dust Plasma Dragon!"

The huge mutant beetle roared, then began shrinking down until it became a human. A guy taken over by Void, with a Vanguard Aegis on his arm. He looked at Aichi with a dead look in his eye, and held out the Aegis. Aichi stiffened.

Kai stepped between the two, holding out his Aegis and transforming back into his regular clothes, the two units he called disappearing. "I'm your opponent." He growled.

The human didn't seem to react, and the Aegis on its arm activated. Kai's activated as well, sparks flying, and everyone around there backed off to give them room. Aichi sliced through another giant millipede, then turned to watch. "A cardfight…"

"Stand up, the vanguard!" Kai yelled. The Void human made some sort of bug screech, and light erupted around them.

Where Kai was standing appeared a small, mechanical red dragon with a silver underside. He had two yellow horns on his head, with electricity dancing between them, and a sword crackling with energy. On his left arm was the Aegis, and a belt around its waist held its deck. **[Lizard Soldier, Saishin – 5000]**

Across from him, where the Void human had been standing was now a brown insect, around two to three feet tall. It had four arms, two wings, and a small dagger in its hand. Its eyes was black, with swirling vortexes in it. The Vanguard Aegis was attached to its arm. **[Megacolony Battler C – 5000]**

A card flew from the deck case into a slot on the Aegis, and another one place itself onto the field. Saishin was covered in light as it became Kai again, wearing red armor with black clothing underneath. He had on a red headband styled like a dragon's tail, and held a huge red spear. The small dragon reappeared behind him. "Red River Dragoon." He said. **[Red River Dragoon – 8000] **"Saishin moves. I end."

A vanguard card appeared next to the bug, disappearing, and then two appearing, placing itself on the Aegis on the bug. The brown bug transformed in a taller bug, with a humanoid shape of arms and legs. Its entire body was black, with silver gloves and boots, and a hornet's behind. Its eyes were large and black, with the same swirling vortexes in it. **[Phantom Black – 8000] **Beside it, another one appeared, with the brown bug from before appearing behind it.

The Phantom Black to the side ran forwards, tackling Kai, who took the attack with his spear. A card flashed next to Kai as Phantom Black ran back to its side.

**[Damage Check – Hex Cannon Wyvern – No Trigger]**

The first Phantom Black charged forwards, with both it and the bug behind it glowing. A card flashed next to the bug before running. **[8000 + 5000 = 13000] **It collided with Kai, sending him back from his spot with a painful smash. Kai winced, another card flashing next to him.

**[Drive Check – Machining Armor Beetle – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Lightning of Hope, Helena – No Trigger]**

The bug gave an inhumane hiss, showing it was done for now.

**Kai – Void Human**

**5 – Hand – 5**

**0 – Soul – 0**

**2 – Damage – 0**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**None – None = None – None**

**Lizard Soldier, Saishin – Red River Dragoon = Phantom Black – Megacolony Battler C**

**None – None = Phantom Black – None**

"Draw." Kai said, a card flying out of his deck case into the slot on his Aegis. "Ride the Vanguard! Thunderstorm Dragoon!"

Beneath him glowed with light, as a thunder dragon rose from underneath him with him standing on it, his spear's point growing in size until it was a huge lance. ** [Thunderstorm Dragoon – 10000]**

"Call! Dragonic Deathscythe! Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda!" A huge, dark red dragon appeared on the field next to Kai, with a huge scythe, the blade made completely out of lightning. Next to them was a mechanical dragon, orange, with two large guns at its side. **[Dragonic Deathscythe – 9000] [Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda – 9000]**

"Dragonic Deathscythe, counterblast!" Two cards, the two that had gone to the damage zone, appeared next to Kai and flipped over. The dark red dragon roared, swinging out its huge scythe which smashed into the copy of Phantom Black, piercing its skin and smashing it apart in mere seconds.

"Garuda attacks your vanguard!" Kai called as the mechanical dragon next to him took aim, the two gun shooting large shots, which collided with Phantom Black with a large explosion.

**[Damage Check – Tail Joe – No Trigger]**

"Garauda's skill! Since its attack hit, I unflip one damage. Saishin boosts, Thunderstorm attacks Phantom Black!" Kai yelled, the dragon he was riding on flying into the air. He aimed at the bug-man with his lance, sending bolts of electricity towards it. **[10000 + 5000 = 15000]**

**[Drive Check – Photon Bomber Wyvern – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Paralyze Madonna – No Trigger]**

"Saishin's skill! I counterblast and move him to the soul to retire Megacolony Battler C!" Kai yelled, pointing his lance at the small brown bug on the field, lighting racing towards it. "Disappear!" It zapped the bug, incinerating it in an instant.

"Dragonic Deathscythe attacks Phantom Black!" Kai yelled. A woman who's lower half of body was a bee's, with wings and large bug eyes appeared in the dragon's path, taking the hit instead and disappearing. **(Karma Queen)**

"I end." Kai said.

**Kai – Void Human**

**4 – Hand – 4**

**2 – Soul – 0**

**2 – Damage – 2**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**None – Dragonic Deathscythe = None – None**

**None – Thunderstorm Dragoon = Phantom Black – None**

**None – Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda = None – None**

"Woah…" Aichi said. "That's…."

"Amazing?" She turned to the side to see Miwa dressed in Dragon Knight Nehalem's armor next to her, watching as well. "Kai really is amazing, isn't he."

"Yeah…" Aichi nodded. She had never seen anything like it before. Dragons fighting against those bugs. "Why is Kai using a different, um, avatar than yesterday when I saw him?"

"Oh, why he's using the Narukami instead of Kagero?"

"Um… yeah…"

"Kai's really talented. He can switch between Narukami and Kagero, and use them both well." Miwa said. "People I know who can do that are…." He thought about it. "Kai and Misaki, who's currently away at a meeting with AL4. Kamui's able to switch through different types of Nova Grapplers, so that could count. If we go to other places, then Ren would count as well. I guess you could count Morikawa, in a way…. But he's a special case…" Miwa laughed nervously. "Anyways, let's just watch Kai handle this."

"Kai's going to win, right?" Aichi asked. Miwa raised an eyebrow at her, before smiling.

"Of course he is! He's Kai! Kai doesn't lose."

The black bug growled before glowing with dark light, getting taller and growing a large horn at the top of his head, like a stag beetle. It had two orange wings, and machine guns in its hands with a round of bullets strapped across it's chest. It's eyes were dark, swirling vortexes like the rest of them. **[Bloody Hercules – 10000]**

A creature with metal plates covering its entire being and tiny horns on its head appeared, with the bee woman who had guarded the attack before behind him. **[Iron Fist Phantom, Rolypoly – 8000] [Karma Queen – 7000] **Two cards flipped over next to the stag beetle, and the bee woman held out her hand towards Garuda. Honey flew out, tying the dragon down to the ground as it tried to break free, but failed. Kai frowned.

The iron covered bug crouched into a ball, and rolled towards Kai's dragon, bouncing into the air and colliding with him, making him cringe and step back. **[8000 + 7000 = 15000]**

**[Damage Check – Lizard Soldier, Riki – No Trigger]**

This time, the huge stag beetle mutant began running towards Kai and his dragon, fully intent on tearing him apart.

"Yellow Gem Carbuncle guards!" Kai yelled as a small fox appeared, a yellow gem shining brightly on its head. The large bug was surprised, but didn't have time to avoid impact.

**[Drive Check – Toxic Trooper – No Trigger]**

It screamed as the bug collided into it, disappearing. The stag beetle seemed annoyed, but stopped its attack and headed back to the other units. It gave a buzzing noise.

**Kai – Void Human**

**3 – Hand – 3**

**2 – Soul – 1**

**3 – Damage – 2**

**2 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**None – Dragonic Deathscythe = None – None**

**None – Thunderstorm Dragoon = Bloody Hercules – None**

**None – Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda = Iron Fist Phantom, Rolypoly – Karma Queen**

"Stand and draw." Kai said, both him and the reaper dragon next to him standing up, although Garuda didn't tied down by the honey. "Ride the vanguard!"

Kai glowed with light, and suddenly, from a flash of lightning descended a huge dragon. It had red and gold armored plates, and it held two divine gold weapons in its claws. Its wings were made of pure lightning and thunder, sparking brightly. Lightning flew around the field, striking down from the sky every once in a while. When it roared, everyone stopped to look at the huge thunder dragon. **[Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion – 11000]**

"Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion's here." Miwa said, as Aichi stared at the huge dragon.

"Woah…"

"Nobody can stand up to Kai when he's gotten to this stage." He said. "Now we just wait."

Behind the thunder dragon appeared another dragon, red with machinery attached to it. The wyvern landed behind it, screeching so high it was almost inaudible. **[Photon Bomber Wyvern – 6000] **Next to it appeared a half man, half dragon creature dressed in blood red armor, and holding a glowing axe. **[Lizard Soldier, Riki – 7000]**

"Deathscythe attacks!" Aichi heard Kai's voice echo from the dragon. The blood red dragon swung out its huge scythe, aiming for Hercules. **[9000 + 7000 = 16000] **It collided hard, hacking off a part of the beetle's horn, with green ooze dripping from the injury.

**[Damage Check – Sharp Nail Scorpio – Critical Trigger]**

The beetle stood up, slightly powered up but still bracing itself.

"Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion! Attack!" The huge thunder dragon took off into the sky, roaring so loudly it shook the field. "Wyvern's skill. Plus 4000!" **[11000 + 6000 + 4000 = 21000] **"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Yellow Gem Carbuncle – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger! Power and critical to Vermillion!" The thunder around the field began striking and flying around faster and faster, until a huge strike hit the beetle with terrifying force.

**[Damage Check – Karma Queen – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Bloody Hercules – No Trigger]**

The dragon roared once again, setting down on the ground as the lightning calmed around it.

**Kai – Void Human**

**3 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 1**

**3 – Damage – 5**

**2 – Counterblasted – 2**

**Field:**

**Lizard Soldier, Riki – Dragonic Deathscythe = None – None**

**Photon Bomber Wyvern – Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion = Bloody Hercules – None**

**None – Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda = Iron Fist Phantom, Rolypoly – Karma Queen**

"Five damage. Kai's got it." Miwa said.

"Five damage?"

"Yeah. When you hit the opponent's vanguard and cause them six damage, they lose. Kai's at 3, while the weird bug Void's got is at 5." He explained.

Aichi looked back at the fight and at Vermillion. "This is amazing. Vanguard…"

The vanguard bug glowed with dark light, and transformed into a towering mutant, as large as Vermillion itself. It had brown armour and two huge swords in its hands. It was the unit that had attacked Aichi from before, and Aichi stepped back in fear. **[Martial Arts Mutant, Master Beetle – 11000]**

Two more bugs appeared around it. One of it was a grey bug with a toxic symbol on its abdomen, and what seemed to be a gas mask on its face. **[Toxic Trooper – 9000] **The other was the black muscular bug from before. **[Phantom Black – 8000]**

The toxic grey bug charged forwards at Vermillion, the containers on its back squirting out gas. Kai's two rearguard dragons choked on the substance, being unable to do anything as it hit Vermillion. **[9000 + 8000 = 17000]**

**[Damage Check – Dragonic Deathscythe – No Trigger]**

The huge mutant walked forwards slowly, and held its huge sword in the air. Its damage zone appeared next to it, and three cards flipped over. Sticky webs shot from the sword, and hit both Dreadscythe and Riki behind it, tying them down to the ground and making them unable to move. Then it proceeded to use its sword to attack Vermillion. **[11000]**

"Demonic Dragon Nymph, Seibo guards!" A woman with pale, snake-like skin appeared, with a large snake wrapped around her, and screamed as she was smashed apart by the large sword.

**[Drive Check – Death Warden, Ant Lion – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Medical Battler, Ranpli – Heal Trigger]**

The iron bug glowed with power as it rolled into a ball, spinning top speed towards Vermillion. **[8000 + 7000 + 5000 = 20000] **It smashed into it, making it fall down onto the ground.

**[Damage Check – Wyvern Guard, Guld – No Trigger]**

The huge bug vanguard growled, slamming its sword into the ground.

**Kai – Void Human**

**1 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 2**

**5 – Damage – 4**

**2 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Lizard Soldier, Riki – Dragonic Deathscythe = Toxic Trooper – Phantom Black**

**Photon Bomber Wyvern – Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion = Martial Arts Mutant, Master Beetle – None**

**None – Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda = Iron Fist Phantom, Rolypoly – Karma Queen**

"Final turn!" Kai yelled. Lightning raced across the field and Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion roared. The last three damage in his damage zone turned over, and the weapons in his hand flashed with electricity.

"There it is. Kai's Vermillion Thunderbolt." Miwa said.

"Nobody ever survives this." Yukari said, smashing a Megacolony unit apart with her gun.

"But right now Kai's Deathscythe and Riki can't stand. That's lowering his power all over currently." Izaki said.

"Oi oi you guys, are you forgetting who you're talking about? It's Kai! Kai doesn't lose!" Miwa yelled.

Aichi looked back at Vermillion. "Kai doesn't lose…" She said to herself.

"Calling one more Vermillion to replace Deathscythe and another Lizard Soldier Riki." Kai's voice echoed through the dragon, as Deathscythe disappeared and another Vermillion appeared in its place. Behind Garuda appeared another small, dragon-man soldier. "Wyvern boosts, Vermillion attacks! Limit Break!"

Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion roared, shaking the entire field. "Vermillion attacks all units in your front row at once!" Lightning raced across the form of the dragon as it glowed pure white. It smashed into all three opposing units at once, the thunder blasting apart the two rearguards. ** [11000 + 6000 + 4000 + 2000 = 23000]**

**[Drive Check – Thunderstorm Dragoon – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Old Dragon Mage – Draw Trigger]**

Master Beetle fell back, lightning still coursing through its form from the attack, and it growled.

**[Damage Check – Paralyze Madonna – No Trigger]**

The rearguard Vermillion took off into the air, flying into the air as lightning ran through its wings. **[11000] **It shot lightning at the opposing vanguard, but a small bug holding green light appeared in its way, taking the attack and disappearing.

"Garuda attacks!" The mechanical dragon aimed at the enemy, and fired two shots. It hit and exploded loudly, smoke bellowing across the field. Master Beetle screamed, its body beginning to come apart around it as it dissolved.

**[Damage Check – Bloody Hercules – No Trigger]**

**Kai – Void Human**

**2 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 2**

**5 – Damage – 6**

**5 – Counterblasted – 4**

**Field:**

**Lizard Soldier, Riki – Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion = None – Phantom Black**

**Photon Bomber Wyvern – Dragonic Kaiser Vermillion = Martial Arts Mutant, Master Beetle – None**

**Lizard Soldier, Riki – Demonic Dragon Berserker, Garuda = None – Karma Queen**

The giant bug disappeared, leaving behind the voided human lying on the ground, not moving. Vermillion dissolved apart as well, as its rearguards disappeared, and Kai landed on the ground. He looked around at everyone, who was all watching him.

"What are you waiting for?!" Kai yelled. "Attack!"

_**-linebreak-**_

"Okay, that arm should be feeling better in a week. The injury on your stomach will heal naturally, so you don't have to worry about that." Said the boy with black hair to Kai as he put away the roll of bandages. Kai nodded, then stood up and put on his usual dark blue jacket.

"Good job out there Kai!" Another boy yelled, waving at him. He was blond and wore white clothing and a huge smile on his face.

"Yeah." Kai said, then walked out.

In the room next to them, Aichi winced as a bandage was wrapped around her wrist. The green hair girl bandaging took out a pair of scissors and cut them off, tying them securely. "There! This'll help with the pain for a while."

"Thanks Ayaka…" Aichi said. Ayaka smiled.

"No problem! Seiri should be done taking care of Kai, and Kusuke and Rika should be finishing up with everyone else that's injured." Ayaka said. "Just the four of us in charge of the healing department, but it's really no problem! It's nice, helping others!"

"Yeah…"

"Plus tomorrow Kamui should be returning from Base SIT, so that'll be fun!" She continued. "He's a cute kid, you'll probably like him! Although he can be a bit annoying at times, and conceited. But he's a nice kid overall."

Aichi blinked. Okay…

"Oh, and Blitzkrieg should be returning from Base Dreadnought soon too! It's a team of four, not just a person called Blitzkrieg. Can you imagine a person named Blitzkrieg, that'd be funny! But yeah, they're fun people! Plus Charles and Reina on the team are basically our music and entertainment at parties! We do still have parties, I'm pretty sure we're going to have one to celebrate them coming back safely! You should go! It'll be fun!"

"Y-Yeah—"

"Oh! Plus Misaki-san should be coming back soon from Base AL4 too! She's really cool! And she keeps a whole bunch of those annoying boys in line, which is really nice! She seems a bit cold, but she's really nice inside! I'll introduce you to her sometime! It'll be so fun! We can all go and do girl stuff and I'll invite along Rika and man it'll be aweso—"

"Ayaka." Someone said quietly from behind her, and Ayaka turned around to see a girl with long, straight black hair and a blank expression on her face. "Your job is to heal the patient, not to bore them to death with stories."

"Rika, I'm just telling her about what's going on soon!"

"That's no excuse." Rika said, stepping around her to inspect Aichi's bandages. "The rest of the patients are done. Seiri and Kusuke are waiting."

"Okay! Bye!" Ayaka waved, then ran out of the room.

"You can go too. You'll be better soon." Rika said, then followed Ayaka out the door.

Aichi walked down the stairs, away from the hospital floor, down the hallway to the main floor. It was supposed to be dinner time soon. Her stomach grumbled. She had never worked up this much of an appetite before after fighting. But then, she never had a Vanguard Aegis or actually wore armour before, so that might have had something to do with it. Plus she never really had the opportunity to look forwards to a meal she knew she would get, so that was just making her hungry.

Aichi hit someone, and she yelled before falling to the ground. She looked up to see Kai, studying her. "S-Sorry!" She said quickly.

"Where did you get Blaster Blade?"

She blinked. "Huh?"

Kai held his right arm. "Where?"

"Oh, um…" Aichi looked down at the Vanguard Aegis on her arm. "Well, somebody gave it to me. Somebody really nice…"

"I see." Kai began walking away. Aichi stood up.

"W-Wait!" She said. Kai looked back at her and she froze. "Um, d-do you want this back?" She held the blue Aegis out.

"You can keep it. You'll need one." He replied, walking away.

Aichi kept watching him before realizing she should say something. "T-Thank you!"

Kai waved at her without looking back.

* * *

**Me: FINISHED! This was a lot longer than expected.**

**Astral: Alternate timeline, or AU, in case anyone wonders why Kai has both Narukami and Kagero. **

**Me: I decided to give the whole Kai and Aichi a gradual thing, cause that makes the most drama when a romance develops! Anyway, for now:**

**Hitomi – AnimeLoverForever00100**

**Yukari Okada – Shioriri**

**Takuma Maki – Digidramon (who's stories you should REALLY check out)**

**Ayaka, Rika, Seiri, Kusuke – Mine**

**Me: I actually finished this! Hooray!**

**Astral: Now go work instead of slack off. Please.**

**Me: . . . review. . . **

**Astral: We will be getting to the general plot around chapter 4. Please be patient until she gets there. Hopefully. She'd better.**

**Me: . . . please review. . .**


	3. Homecoming

**Me: Let's see, I don't own Cardfight Vanguard. Sorry it took long. There have been many complications in writing this, including nonstop music classes, a huge pile of pieces to study, and having to block an obnoxious person here. **

**Me: Oh yeah, wonder if I ever said this. The original concept of the Vanguard Aegis was created by The Humble Batora in the vanguard academy RP forum here, which I used as the basis for this one. The looks of the two are different though, as I designed the one here to resemble more of a duel disk and be more portable and easier to use than the other.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Homecoming**

"I've received message from Kamui." Kai said to the eating people seated in the cafeteria, who all stopped to listen. "He should be arriving back tomorrow, along with next month's food supply. As well, Team Blitzkrieg should be arriving sometime soon with the water supply."

A lot of people began cheering. "Misaki said she's run into a little bit of trouble, but she should be returning safely with a little delay." He continued.

"What does that mean?" Aichi whispered to the people sitting next to her.

"Oh, Kamui and his team go for a week-long trip to Base SIT every month for food." Izaki said, eating his dinner with his fork. "See, even though we grow some food, it isn't enough for all these people. Base SIT focuses on food supply. We've visited it before. They breed cows and pigs, along with the fact that they have a huge amount of land where they grow grain and fruits and vegetables. They specialize in making the foods for the rest of the bases."

"Team Blitzkrieg goes to Base Dreadnought every month as well." Takuma said. "Dreadnought's right next to the ocean, and they have large purification tanks which they use to supply the rest of the bases with clean water to drink and use. That's what our bases depend upon for water."

"Oh…" Aichi nodded, looking down at the salad she was eating. She didn't really feel comfortable with eating meat anymore, so a bit of grain and salad was good. All this was transported from another base here… along with the water she was drinking and washing her hands with and showering with… And times that by over five thousand for all the people in this base… Plus there were four bases…

Four bases… "So, what does Base AL4 do?" She asked.

"Al4's the warrior base, or the attack force base." Miwa said. "They train the majority of the warriors, and keep mostly warriors there. We organize meetings with them, and discuss new ways to attack Void, or stronger defense strategies against attacks. Most weaponry is also made there, along with general machinery and the technology we have left."

"Oh. And this Misaki-san's run into trouble?"

"Most likely she's been met with some more Voided people than usual. She'll handle it!" Miwa answered. "Anyways, don't worry about it. We'll do some simple training tomorrow so you get used to it, and then you'll get assigned to a station to watch over."

Aichi looked down at her meal and put her fork down. "Hey, is it going to be like this forever. Is this all we'll do, just fight some people, eat some food, drink some water, and sleep? Is this all life is anymore?"

"Is that really what you think?" She turned around to see Kai standing behind her.

"Kai? Not eating?" Miwa asked.

"Not in the mood." Kai said, looking at Aichi. "If that really was the case, why do you think we fight so hard?"

She blinked in return.

"If all the vanguard give up, where will that leave the warriors? If all the warriors give up, where will that leave the civilians? If we all give up, Void wins. Why do you think we all fight so hard? Because we have to, for everyone else's sake. To someday take our world back from Void. Don't forget, that's why we fight. That's our reason for fighting."

Reason for fighting… What motivates everyone to fight. She only had herself those lonely months. What had been her reason for fighting?

_**-linebreak-**_

A loud bell rang throughout the entire building, and many people began running out to the front of the building. Aichi followed the crowd of people. Was there another attack?

As they reached the front of the building, everybody was looking at something in the distance. Their expressions were more happy than panicked, and that was confusing. She squinted in the direction everyone else was looking in, and saw something coming in their direction, getting closer by the second.

Robots. Giant Robots. There had to be at least 15 of them, each one of them wheeling behind them a huge cart overflowing with boxes. Aichi screamed, then looked around. "Isn't somebody going to attack them?!" She panicked, pointing at them as they got closer.

"That's our food supply! We're not attacking it!" Morikawa yelled, running out in front. "OI! STUPID BRAT! IT TOOK LONG ENOUGH!"

"WHAT WAS THAT MAKEMI?!" One of the robots yelled loudly, and Aichi held her ears. Okay… this didn't seem like an attack now.

"IT'S KATSUMI!" Morikawa yelled back as the other party arrived at the doorsteps of their base. 18 huge robots, around 5 stories high, with the main one in the middle who was a bright red with silver, gold, and green weaponry, and towered over all of them. **(A/N: Perfect Raizer)**

Then 15 of the robots disappeared (rearguards?), and the three remaining robots began disappearing and shrinking down, until what was left was three…. Little kids…. With the one in the middle barely coming up to her shoulder, even with the addition of his crazy tall black hair.

"We're back!" He yelled.

_**-linebreak-**_

People lined up one by one as the three small kids once again transformed into huge robots, unloading the boxes as the people took them into the building. As it turns out, the three little kids were Kamui, Reiji, and Eiji, the three people who went all the way to SIT to get food for the base. That huge job for three boys. Wow.

Aichi got to the front of the line, and was handed a box by the extremely spiky haired boy, Kamui, who looked confused when he saw her. "Who are you? New?" His eyes widened as he looked at Miwa. "You found someone?!" He yelled. Miwa chuckled.

"Yup. Found her one day." He said.

"Ohhh…" Kamui said. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHH?!" The three kids screamed.

"You found someone?!" Reiji yelled.

"YFS-su?!" Eiji repeated.

"It was a while back… but yeah." Izaki said from behind them.

"I see…" Kamui nodded, putting his hands on his hips and sizing up to her. Which she found strange, since he was a head shorter than her. "Gluten up cause you're looking at the amazing and invincible Kamui-sama!"

Huh?

"It's listen up." Miwa whispered, and Kamui's face turned red. "You're not trying to tell her to get fatter…"

"Yeah! That's what I meant!" Kamui yelled. "Listen up! You'd better show respect to me, the great Kamui, got it?!"

Aichi blinked. Oh, this boy was… She smiled a bit on the inside. It had been a while before she had seen something so funny. "Okay Kamui-kun." She said.

"That's Kamui-sama! Or Kamui the Amazing! Or Kamui the Incredible! Or—"

"Kamui the Pipsqueak."

"Exactl… HEY!" Kamui pounced on Morikawa, pulling at his hair. "Take that back Makemi!"

"It's Katsumi you brat!" Morikawa yelled as they tumbled back and forth, eventually falling down and collapsing on top of each other.

"What's happening out here?" The two boys froze, then looked up to see Kai standing above them.

"Kai!" Kamui jumped up.

"It's nice to see you're back in one piece with both the other two and the food, although don't make a ruckus already." Kai said, picking up a box easily.

"Yup!" Kamui saluted. Kai walked back into the building, carrying the box. As soon as he was gone, Kamui sighed. "Clear."

"Anyways, take this box." The blue haired boy, Reiji, handed Aichi a box, and she took it clumsily, wobbling as she tried to get a good grip. "It goes in the Dairy section."

"S-Sure." Aichi walked back into the building slowly, struggling with the large box of what sounded like milk. Milk… She hadn't drank milk in so long…

She got on the elevator with some others, down to the basement, and set down the box by a pile of other boxes labelled 'Dairy'. They had a lot. It made sense, considering how many people they had to feed every day. The basement looked like it went on forever in all directions, filled with boxes everywhere. Plus it was like a huge freezer with ice in corners and icicles hanging from the ceiling. She shivered, rubbing her arms. A huge refrigerator for the food, she figured.

"You're that new girl." Aichi turned around to see a girl with long cranberry hair and blue eyes gazing at her curiously. She remembered her from breakfast.

"You're… Hitomi… right?" Aichi said.

"Yeah." Hitomi nodded. She frowned, and Aichi felt immediately felt uncomfortable.

"How did you survive so long?" She asked.

"Huh?" That was a real intelligent answer… "I don't… know…"

"It's already hard enough surviving here. Out there, there's no food randomly lying around or water conveniently placed. How did you survive?"

Aichi blinked. "Oh, well…"

There was a loud clang from around them, and the two girls jumped. "What was that?!" Hitomi yelled.

"D-Did someone drop something?" Aichi suggested, hoping that was the case.

"Yeah, somebody probably just dropped something. It's nothing to worry about." Hitomi breathed out. "We're just overreacting over something si—"

The was a cracking sound, and from a box near them broke out something. The two girls screamed as a woman jumped out, dressed completely in pink fluffy clothing, with pink and red ears and a small dark blue top hat on the side of her head. For some reason, her eyes were pitch black, and that didn't seem normal. **(A/N: Midnight Bunny)**

The bunny woman looked at them, and smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, it was a scary smile, and Aichi felt her feet freeze to the ground. Something caught her around the wrist and she was yanked forwards, yelling in shock.

"I caught a girl! I caught a girl!" The bunny woman (a vanguard unit?) yelled happily. "I think it's a cardfighter!" She bounced back and forth with her feet. "Let's play a game! Let's play a game!"

"A g-game…" Aichi stuttered, trying to pull her wrist out of the strange black beam suddenly wrapped around her wrist. She didn't know what it was but it was holding on to her, being held by the strange unit, and she couldn't get out. Hitomi began pulling at it with her, but it was surprisingly strong and smooth.

"A game!" The unit sang. "A cardfight! You win, I let you go and leave! I win, I blow up all this food here! Won't that be fun?"

"Blow up the food?!" Hitomi yelled. "You can't do that!"

"Why not?" Midnight Bunny laughed. "It'll be fun! Watch!" She snapped her fingers, and a pile of boxes near the door suddenly blew up with a bang, cereal flying everywhere.

"That was tomorrow's breakfast!" Hitomi yelled.

"See, so let's have a cardfight now! This anchor isn't gonna let you go until we do!" The vanguard unit said, tugging at the black beam.

"What's going on down there?!" Some people ran down from the entrance, led by a man with dirty blonde hair wearing a dark coat. He looked at the scene, with blown up boxes of food, a Voided unit, and two terrified girls. "Somebody get Kai now." A girl behind her, who Aichi recognized as Ayaka from yesterday, ran outside.

The man stepped forwards towards them. "I'm Kazami Yuki, a vanguard of this base. You need to go now!" He said to Midnight Bunny.

"Oh look, more people to play with! Don't worry, I'll get to you all!" The unit laughed. "After I'm done with this little girl!"

"A Void unit broke in?!" Kai ran into the room, with four people behind him. Ayaka and her friend from the hospital wing, Seiri, Kamui. He glared. "What's your business here?"

"What else? It's fun, that's why!"

Kai frowned. "If you want to fight…"

"Kai, you're still healing the wounds from yesterday!" Seiri said. "You can't!"

"I'll take care of it!" Kamui yelled, his Vanguard Aegis activating.

"Hmm, how about, no!" Midnight Bunny laughed, tugging at the black beam. "See this? It's known as a Void Anchor! And when you get caught in it you now gotta cardfight, or else it doesn't come off!"

"What?!" Kamui exclaimed.

"Does something like that exist?" Ayaka said.

"It does now~!"

"So that means if you get caught in one you're forced to cardfight no matter what, or else you're stuck." Seiri said. "Kai, doesn't she still not know how to cardfight?"

"She doesn't?!" Midnight Bunny's smile got bigger. "Then this'll be so much more fun!"

Aichi shook. Oh no, she was going to lose, and everyone was going to starve because of her. She didn't know what happened when someone lost a cardfight now, but she was pretty sure it wasn't good. She was going to be responsible for everything because she wasn't strong enough to do anything, and she didn't know how to do anything…

"Kai, what do we do?" Ayaka whispered.

Kai walked forwards to Aichi, who watched him come closer. He took her arm with the anchor on it, along with the blue Aegis, and activated it. Aichi blinked.

"You're going to cardfight." Kai said. "You have a deck. You're going to win. Get out your deck."

Aichi gazed at him in wonder. He was serious. His eyes were serious. "Get out your deck." He repeated.

"R-Right." Aichi took out her deck from her pocket, looking at the cards in it.

"Get out a grade 0 and put it down on the middle circle. That's going to be your starting vanguard."

"Okay." She picked out a unit with a grade 0 in the corner, putting it facedown on the middle circle of the Aegis. Midnight Bunny smiled at them evilly, pink fur on her arm forming into a Vanguard Aegis as she got ready.

"We'll have such fun!" She said, grinning, and Aichi shivered slightly.

"Put the deck in that slot on the Aegis and draw five cards for your opening hand." Kai said. Aichi nodded, drawing her hand and looking at it nervously. Okay, she could do this. Kai was here to help. She would do this.

"Now, at the same time as your opponent, you say 'Stand up, Vanguard', and flip over your first vanguard."

"Ready when you are~!" Midnight Bunny said. "Stand up, vanguard!"

"S-Stand up, vanguard!" Aichi said, flipping over the card. She squeaked as it began glowing, along with her body, and the next thing she knew, she was half the height she was before, with her blue hair in buns. She had silver armour with colourful designs covering parts of her body, with small white wings and a brass trumpet in her hand, and the five cards in her other hand. "S-Stardust… Trumpeter?" Kai nodded, signalling that was correct, and she breathed out slightly. **[Stardust Trumpeter – 6000]**

Across from her, where Midnight Bunny was standing now stood a short, chubby man with ghostly purple skin. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with gold trim and a red velvet vest. There was a matching top hat on his head, along with swirling black hair. "Hades Ringmaster." The man said in a deep voice. **[Hades Ringmaster – 5000]**

"I'm first! Draw!" The man said, a card flying out from the Aegis on his arm. "I ride Midnight Bunny."

He glowed purple, then transformed back into the pink bunny woman before. She smiled. "Yeah, this form feels much better!" **[Midnight Bunny – 7000]**

"On the first turn, the person can't attack." Kai said, and Aichi nodded, feeling relieved that she wasn't going to get attacked yet.

"Hades Ringmaster's skill. I soul charge one card and end my turn."

**[Soul Charge – Skull Juggler – No Trigger]**

"Soul… charge?"

"The soul is any unit underneath your vanguard. There are some cards that can increase that for their advantage." Kai said. "But don't worry about that now. At the beginning of your turn, you draw a card. It's your turn."

"Oh! I, draw." Aichi said, taking a card from her deck.

"Then you ride a unit either the same grade or one grade higher than the one you're at right now." Kai said, pointing at one of her cards. "See this? This is the grade of the unit. Stardust Trumpeter is a Grade 0, so you would want to ride a Grade 1 right now to get to a higher grade. Every turn, you can ride over your vanguard, getting you stronger."

"Um…" Aichi examined her hand. "I ride Little Sage, Marron!" Her body tingled as it began changing shape again, changing slightly taller, with her hair down in its usual shape. She wore blue and white robes that seemed similar to her Blaster Blade's armour, holding a large book filled with strange words in it. **[Little Sage, Marron – 8000]**

"You can call units that are the same or lower grade as your vanguard, which can either attack or boost your unit from the cards currently in your hand." Kai continued. "Those are rearguards, and that is the Call. Units in the front row attack, and units in the backrow boost the attacking ones."

"Oh, kay, so, I call Wingal." She said, placing the card behind her vanguard. Behind her, a blue dog with wings for ears and a dagger in its mouth appeared, and she stared at it. That was cool. And cute. So very cute oh my god Wingal was adorable! **[Wingal – 6000]**

"You attack your opponent's vanguard, which right now is Midnight Bunny." Kai said. "By turning a unit on its side, or resting it, that's you telling the units to attack. By resting a unit behind the attacking unit, you add its power to yours when you attack. If you have equal or more power than your opponent's unit, the attack goes through and is a success."

"I, attack your vanguard with Marron. And Wingal boosts." Aichi said, resting the two units on her Aegis awkwardly. **[8000 + 6000 = 14000] **

"When your vanguard attacks, you reveal the top card of your deck for a drive check. If you reveal a card with a trigger in the top right corner, you get to apply special effects."

"Okay."

**[Drive Check – Little Sage, Marron – No Trigger]**

"And now you go attack." Kai said. The two continued looking at each other.

"Um, Kai, nothing's happening?"

"You have to attack. Go punch her or use the magic spells in the book you're holding. Attack."

Aichi pointed at herself, and Kai nodded. "Yes. You have to attack."

She blinked. Then she realized. "Oh!" Oh, she had to attack. That made sense, she was the vanguard, and so she had to lead, and…

Okay, she was all nervous again. No worries. All she had to do was just, attack. Simple. She took a deep breath, then looked at the words written on the book. "_Augue… oppugnatione_." She said. A fireball appeared above the book, and flew to Midnight Bunny, scorching part of her ears.

"Hey! Those are sensitive!" Midnight Bunny yelled, then smiled again. "No matter! Continue!"

**[Damage Check – Barking Cerberus – No Trigger]**

"When an attack hits your vanguard, you flip over the top card of your deck and put it in your damage zone. When someone gets six cards, or six damage there, the game is over."

"Oh, okay." Aichi nodded, understanding a little more. "Now what do I do?"

"After attacking, if there's nothing else to do and no more skills to activate, you end your turn and it goes to your opponent."

"I end my turn." Aichi said.

**Aichi – Midnight Bunny**

**5 – Hand – 5**

**1 – Soul – 2**

**0 – Damage – 1**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none - - - none – none**

**Wingal – Little Sage, Marron - - - Midnight Bunny – none**

**none – none - - - none - none**

"Stand and draw." Midnight Bunny said. "And just after I got back into this form… I ride Crimson Beast Tamer!" She glowed purple, transforming into an elf with long silver hair curled at the end, with a small purple leotard with see-through orange ruffles. She had knee-high red boots, and a whip made flames. **[Crimson Beast Tamer – 8000]**

"I call Turquoise Beast Tamer, Mirror Demon, and Barking Cerberus." Crimson Beast Tamer said, a three-headed dog dressed in large, puffy colourful clothing and a short-haired version of herself with an ice whip appearing around her. Beside her was a mirror, with a small purple head and body half sticking out of it. **[Turquoise Beast Tamer – 6000] [Barking Cerberus – 10000] [Mirror Demon – 8000]**

"Cerberus attacks Marron!" She shouted, the large dog barking and running towards Aichi. **[10000]**

"You don't just have to take attacks too. You can guard the attacks with card from your hand. A card that you use to guard's shield power, the numbers written on the side, is added to your vanguard's base power. If the power is more than the unit that's attacking, the attack is successfully negated." Kai said.

"B-Bringer of Good Luck, Epona guards!" Aichi yelled, holding out the card. "Um, the shield power is 10000, plus Marron's 8000… that's 18000. The attack doesn't hit."

A girl in blue armor riding a large golden beetle appeared in front of her, and the three-headed dog teared her apart. She disappeared screaming.

"You can't always guard eithers. You need to think about what units you're going to have to call in your turn, and about your shield power for turns afterwards as well." Kai said. "So taking a bit of damage is good sometimes."

"Turquoise boosts, and Crimson Beast Tamer attacks Marron!" Crimson Beast Tamer yelled, dashing forwards. **[8000 + 6000 = 14000] **"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Golden Beast Tamer – No Trigger]**

She lashed out, and the burning whip hit Aichi's arm, and Aichi yelled out, grabbing her arm. It burned, it really burned. Her skin was red, and smoking. It was smoking, her skin charred underneath the now non-existent cloth that was covering it.

"D-Damage… check…" She said, taking the top card of her deck softly and flipping it over. Her arm burned when she moved it. The card didn't have a trigger. She dropped it in her damage zone, her arm feeling like it would burst from the effort.

**[Damage Check – Knight of Silence, Gallatin – No Trigger]**

"Mirror Demon attacks Marron!" **[8000]**

"No… guard…" She tensed, the mirror suddenly appearing in front of her and the small demon hitting her in the shoulder. "Damage check…"

**[Damage Check – Knight of Truth, Gordon – No Trigger]**

"Mirror Demon's counterblast! I move it to the soul, and superior call Skull Juggler!" Her opponent said, the unit disappear into the mirror. Behind Cerberus appeared a little demon with blue skin juggling skulls. "Skull Juggler's soul charge."

**[Soul Charge – Barking Manticore – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn." Crimson Beast Tamer bowed.

**Aichi – Midnight Bunny**

**4 – Hand – 3**

**1 – Soul – 4**

**2 – Damage – 1**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**none – none - - - Barking Cerberus – Skull Juggler**

**Wingal – Little Sage, Marron - - - Crimson Beast Tamer – Turquoise Beast Tamer**

**none – none - - - none - none**

"Stand and draw…" Aichi said, drawing her card slowly. She stared at the card, smiling slowly.

_"If you like that card so much, then make it your avatar!"_

_ "Avatar?"_

_ "A unit that you feel you have a really big connection with, one that you've bonded with."_

_ "Bonds." Aichi looked at the card, smiling. "Yeah! He's my avatar!"_

"Stand up, my avatar!" Aichi yelled. "I ride Blaster Blade!"

Her body began changing again, and this time she let it go without worrying. She grew to her usual height, her body wearing white armour and dark blue clothing underneath. In her hands was the sword she spent so many months with, and it felt great. Her arm didn't feel that bad anymore, although it was still sore to move. It felt great. **[Blaster Blade – 9000]**

"Blaster Blade's counterblast!" She said, slamming her sword into the ground. "I retire Barking Cerberus!" The shockwaves broke the ground, making the three-headed dog lose balance and fall, disappearing.

Kai looked at her with surprise. "You know how to do that?"

"I remembered. There was a while back, where this really nice guy taught me how." Aichi replied softly. "He gave me Blaster Blade, taught me how to make my deck, and had a cardfight with me. But he moved away really quickly."

Kai didn't say anything. He looked back at the enemy at hand. "Continue." He said. "Let's see what he taught you."

Aichi smiled. "Okay!" She nodded. "I call Little Sage Marron and Knight of Rose, Morgana!" A boy with light green hair and blue and white clothes, holding a large book appeared, with a blonde woman in white clothes and a glowing blue sword with a rose for the hilt in front of her. **[Little Sage, Marron – 8000] [Knight of Rose, Morgana – 6000] **"Morgana attacks Crimson Beast Tamer with Marron's boost!" **[6000 + 8000 = 14000]**

"Hoop Magician guards!" Crimson Beast Tamer said, a little girl sitting in a red hula hoop appearing in front of her, taking the hit and disappearing quickly.

"Blaster Blade attacks with Wingal's boost! Wingal's skill! I gain 4000 power!" Aichi yelled, holding the sword firmly. **[9000 + 6000 + 4000 = 19000] **She took a deep breath, then charged forwards.

"No guard." Crimson Beast Tamer smiled. The sword slammed into her middle, and she winced as she slide back from the impact. "Damage check."

**[Damage Check – Dark Metal Bicorn – No Trigger]**

"I end my turn."

**Aichi – Midnight Bunny**

**4 – Hand – 3**

**1 – Soul – 4**

**2 – Damage – 1**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Little Sage, Marron – Knight of Rose, Morgana - - - none – Skull Juggler**

**Wingal – Blaster Blade - - - Crimson Beast Tamer – Turquoise Beast Tamer**

**none – none - - - none - none**

"Stand and draw." Crimson Beast Tamer smiled. "I ride Golden Beast Tamer."

Golden light burst from her, and a woman in a purple leotard with golden sleeves and skirt emerged. She had golden hair and a golden whip, with a purple crescent in her hair. **[Golden Beast Tamer – 10000]**

"Golden Beast Tamer's skill. I superior call a chimera from my soul."

"From the soul?!"

"Barking Manticore, appear!" Next to the tamer appeared a giant red beast with a silver mane, growling menacingly. **[Barking Manticore – 10000] **"And one more Skull Juggler." Another small goblin juggling skulls appeared. "Soul charge."

**[Soul Charge – Candy Clown – Heal Trigger]**

Golden Beast Tamer smiled. "Usually I can't attack, but by soulblasting 3 cards, I am now allowed to attack. Manticore attacks Blaster Blade. And my skill gives it 3000 more power!" **[10000 + 7000 + 3000 = 20000]**

"N-No guard…." The giant beast leapt towards her, and it hit her hard. She yelled, falling backwards.

"Damage check." She said, placing the card in her damage zone carefully after standing up.

**[Damage Check – Knight of the Harp, Tristan – No Trigger]**

"I attack with Turquoise's boost!"** [10000 + 6000 = 16000] **Golden Beast Tamer cracked her whip, then ran forwards.

"Flogal guards!" A pink dog jumped down in front of her, barking loudly. She stopped, then smiled.

"Drive check. Since I'm a grade 3, I do it twice!" Aichi watched as two cards appeared one by one next to her. "First and second check."

**[Drive Check – Nightmare Doll, Alice – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Mirror Demon – No Trigger]**

The tamer frowned. "Well, you got lucky." She jumped back to her side as Flogal disappeared. "I end my turn."

**Aichi – Midnight Bunny**

**3 – Hand – 4**

**1 – Soul – 2**

**3 – Damage – 1**

**0 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Little Sage, Marron – Knight of Rose, Morgana - - - Barking Manticore – Skull Juggler**

**Wingal – Blaster Blade - - - Golden Beast Tamer – Turquoise Beast Tamer**

**none – none - - - none – Skull Juggler**

"Stand and draw." Aichi looked at the card she just drew, then turned to Kai. "I can ride this… right?" Kai glanced at the card, nodded, and Aichi smiled. She took a breath in.

"Give me the power! The proud, prideful white wings! I ride Solitary Knight, Gancelot!" **[Solitary Knight, Gancelot – 9000]**

Her armour got heavier and shinier and it increased in size and thickness, and she pushed the silver helmet back so it wouldn't cover her eyes. A white horse with silver armour appeared under her, whinnying and flapping its large wings. She yelped slightly, nearly sliding off the pegasus in shock before Kai caught her and pushed her back up. "I activate Gancelot's skill…" She said, reading the card on her Aegis. "By counterblasting two cards… I get 5000 more power and… a critical…"

"That means if the attack hits it does two damage instead of one."

"Oh." She nodded. "Right. I-I call Knight of Silence, Gallatin!" A knight with purple hair and red cloth wrapped around his eyes appeared, with white clothing and silver armor. **[Knight of Silence, Gallatin – 10000] **"Gallatin attacks, Barking Manticore." She decided, and the knight leaped forwards, drawing his sword.

"Mirror Demon guards." A mirror appeared in his path, getting sliced in half as a demon popped out of it, yelling in pain before disappearing.

"Gancelot attacks with Wingal's boost!" Aichi yelled. The pegasus snorted, then charged forth and she grabbed the reigns in shock, holding on for dear life. **[9000 + 6000 + 5000 = 20000] **She fumbled with the sword in her hand, then held it out and gave an awkward battle cry. She could have sworn the pegasus was laughing at her.

Golden Beast Tamer glanced at her hand. "No guard." Aichi's sword hit her side, tearing through her part of her clothes. The pegasus then hit her across the head with his own as he retreated back. "Hey!" The tamer growled, and the pegasus glared back.

"Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Starlight Unicorn – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Flogal – Stand Trigger]**

"Stand trigger!" Aichi looked at the blue icon, then at Kai. "Um, the stand trigger?"

"You stand one of your rested units, and choose one unit on the field, and that unit will get 5000 more power."

"I can choose the unit that I stand, right?" Kai nodded in affirmation. "Okay, I stand Gallatin and give the power to him."

**[Damage Check – Hades Hypnotist – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Jumping Glenn – No Trigger]**

"And then he attacks your vanguard!" **[10000 + 5000 = 15000]**

Golden Beast Tamer huffed. "Fine. No guard." She scowled and winced as the sword hit her, lashing back with her whip.

**[Damage Check – Dynamite Juggler – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger! Power and critical to my vanguard." She said.

"C-Critical trigger?!" Aichi panicked, then stopped. "But… it's my turn, so…"

"Only the power increase is relevant here." Kai said. "Since it's your turn, she can't attack."

"Oh," She breathed out in relief, "that's good." She looked at her field. "Um, Marron boosts, Morgana attacks…. The attack will be 14000, but Golden Beast Tamer now has 15000 power… so the attack won't hit." She mumbled. "Morgana attacks Barking Manticore!" **[6000 + 8000 = 14000]**

The blonde haired warrior slashed down the sides of the large beast, and it roared and disappeared.

"I end my turn." Aichi said. "Woah… I did 3 damage…"

**Aichi – Midnight Bunny**

**4 – Hand – 3**

**3 – Soul – 2**

**3 – Damage – 4**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Little Sage, Marron – Knight of Rose, Morgana - - - none – Skull Juggler**

**Wingal – Solitary Knight, Gancelot - - - Golden Beast Tamer – Turquoise Beast Tamer**

**none – Knight of Silence, Gallatin - - - none – Skull Juggler**

"Stand and draw." Golden Beast Tamer said. "I call Nitro Juggler and, hmm, I'll take pity on you little folk and not destroy the place by calling Alice. So instead, Madcap Marionette." An awkward rag doll suspended by strings going up into some invisible hole in the sky appeared, with a purple-skinned mechanical man wearing a white suit next to the vanguard. **[Madcap Marionette – 6000] [Nitro Juggler – 9000]**

"Nitro Juggler soulcharges one card from my deck, and Marionette chooses one card in my hand to soulcharge." She said.

**[Soul Charge – Rainbow Magician – Draw Trigger]**

**[Soul Charge – Nightmare Doll, Alice – No Trigger]**

"By soulblasting three cards, I'm now able to attack. Marionette attacks you with Skull Juggler's boost. My skill gives it 3000 more power." **[6000 + 7000 + 3000 = 16000]**

"Flogal guards!" As the strings from nowhere pulled the puppet forwards, a flowery pink dog blocked its path. The puppet's expression didn't change once as it stopped, and the strings pulled it back.

"I'm attacking now!" Golden Beast Tamer said, Turquoise behind her testing her own whip. **[10000 + 6000 + 3000 = 19000]**

"Um…" Aichi looked at the remaining cards in her hand. "I won't guard this one."

"Well then, twin drive."

**[Drive Check – Barking Manticore – No Trigger]**

**[Drive Check – Dynamite Juggler – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger!" Golden Beast Tamer yelled. "Finally! I give power to my rearguard Nitro Juggler, and the critical to my vanguard!" The golden whip flew out, striking the pegasus Aichi was sitting on's wing, as well as the already burnt arm from before. The pegasus cried out, stomping its hooves as Aichi tried to stay on.

"An extra critical makes it two damage instead of one… so damage check twice." Aichi said, wincing as she lifted her arm up. It stung, even through the armor she was wearing.

**[Damage Check – Knight of Silence, Gallatin – No Trigger]**

**[Damage Check – Margal – Draw Trigger]**

"A draw trigger." Aichi said, looking at Kai. "Um, that means I can give Gancelot 5000 more power and draw a card, right?" When Kai nodded, she drew a card.

"Nitro Juggler attacks you with Skull Juggler's boost!" **[9000 + 7000 + 3000 + 5000 = 24000] **The mechanical man jumped up in the air, arming its nitro bombs.

"If this hits it'll be the sixth damage and you'll lose!" Kai said. "You have to guard!"

"I-I guard with Yggdrasil Maiden, Elaine and Knight of Rose, Morgana!" Aichi held out the cards. "That's 15000 shield plus Gancelot's current power of 14000… so it should be enough!" A maiden with long green hair and a flowing dress appeared alongside a duplicate of the blonde knight. The attacking man stopped, then put his bombs back in his pocket.

"I end my turn." Golden Beast Tamer huffed.

**Aichi – Midnight Bunny**

**1 – Hand – 2**

**3 – Soul – 1**

**5 – Damage – 4**

**2 – Counterblasted – 0**

**Field:**

**Little Sage, Marron – Knight of Rose, Morgana - - - Nitro Juggler – Skull Juggler**

**Wingal – Solitary Knight, Gancelot - - - Golden Beast Tamer – Turquoise Beast Tamer**

**none – Knight of Silence, Gallatin - - - Madcap Marionette – Skull Juggler**

"Stand and draw." Aichi said. Okay, she managed to survive, even though her arm was still sore. But she couldn't back down now, she needed to win. "I call Starlight Unicorn! Starlight Unicorn's skill gives Morgana 2000 more power with her skill." A unicorn with a shining, rainbow mane appeared, its horn sparkling and powering up Morgana. **[Starlight Unicorn – 6000]**

"Gancelot's counterblast! I add 5000 more power and 1 more critical." Aichi said. "Gallatin attacks your vanguard with Starlight Unicorn's boost!"

"No guard." Golden Beast Tamer replied after glancing at her hand. Her outfit was near shreds now. Ugh, she didn't expect some brat to get this far ahead.

**[Damage Check – Dynamite Juggler – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger! Power and critical to me!"

"Morgana attacks your vanguard with Marron's boost!" **[6000 + 8000 + 2000 = 16000]**

"Nitro Juggler intercepts!" The man jumped in front of her, stopping the attack with a smoke bomb.

"Gancelot attacks with Wingal's boost!" **[9000 + 6000 + 5000 = 20000] **The pegasus whinnied, stomping its hooves.

"Dynamite Juggler guards!" A small goblin riding on a barrel of dynamite appeared in her path, giggling as the white pegasus glared at it.

"Drive check! You still have a chance!" Kai yelled.

"Yeah!" Aichi said, gripping the reigns of the pegasus tighter so she wouldn't fall. "Drive check."

**[Drive Check – Wingal – No Trigger]**

"Second check."

**[Drive Check – Bringer of Good Luck, Epona – Critical Trigger]**

"Critical trigger!" Aichi yelled. "The power and critical added onto Gancelot's power is 25000, which is the same as your guarding power. So the attack goes through!"

The barrel slipped out from underneath the small goblin, and the pegasus jumped over it easily. Aichi held onto the sword tightly with one hand, as she rode closer to victory.

Golden Beast Tamer stared in shock as the sword came closer and closer to her. She was about to lose. She was about to disappear, because some lucky beginner actually managed to beat her. She blinked. Was this really just some beginner? She did feel something, else, coming from her. The sword point flashed, reflecting light off of it and casting shadows on the ground.

Oh.

Oh! Yeah! So that's what it was...

A small smile found its way onto her lips. "Well this is interesting. Things are gonna be fuuuuun for you guys later on!"

And that smile stayed on her face as she was stabbed through the chest, her body dissolving apart into nothing.

**[Damage Check – Golden Beast Tamer – No Trigger]**

Aichi stayed frozen as the unit disappeared, along with the horse she was riding on and the sword and armor. She dropped to the ground, landing awkwardly, and looking at her hands. She did it. She actually did it. She had beaten a person (or unit she didn't care at this point) taken by Void.

Oh my god she did it.

"YOU DID IT YESSSSS!" Ayaka yelled, grabbing her into a hug and swinging her around. Her head spun, as the insane hug made her dizzy. "YES YES YES I KNEW YOU COULD!"

"You said you thought she was dead." Rika said from behind her, her voice still as blank as ever, although there was a slight smile as she watched her friend's usual antics.

"I did not! I knew you could do it!" Ayaka yelled. "Except for all those times I thought you were gonna lose, I knew you'd win!"

"Um...thanks..." Aichi managed, her head still spinning as Ayaka let go of her. Rika sighed from behind her. Aichi blinked, then looked at Kai.

"T-Thank you, Kai." She said. Kai eyed her.

"It was nothing. I can't have any people dying in my home. That's it." He said. Aichi blinked.

_That's what he meant… He cares more than it seems. _She smiled.

"I need to contact SIT now to talk about the food since some of it's gone. Katsuragi, you do something here. Do it yourself, call others, I don't care. Just clean this mess up." And with that, Kai walked out of the basement.

Kamui twitched. It seemed like he wasn't the most fond of Kai giving him orders. "Reiji! Eiji!" He yelled, and the two boys beside him yelled to show attention. "Get 20 civilians who aren't busy now with cleaning supplies and fix this!"

"Okay, Kamui-san!" They both yelled, rushing out.

Aichi watched them go, smiling. These kids were fun. She took a step, then winced as her arms, legs, and entire body in general began hurting. Her arm was still bleeding from taking damage, and her leg was really sore. The injuries didn't go away when the fight was over.

"Oh yeah! We gotta get you fixed up! Come on!" Ayaka said. "Medical wing it is! Kusuke!"

"On it!" The boy answered, grabbing Aichi out of nowhere, making her yelp in surprise, and piggybacking her. "Let's go!"

"Don't move her around too much." Seiri, that other boy with the glasses from the medical wing, said. "The wounds will get worse if you do."

"The wounds will get worse if we don't get her there now so let's go!" Kusuke yelled, grabbing Seiri with one hand and keeping Aichi on his back with another, he dragged them both out of the room with Ayaka and Rika following behind.

_**-linebreak-**_

"Kai! I heard what happened!" Miwa barged into Kai's office in a hurry, the door slamming the wall as Kai huffed and looked up at him from the map he was examining.

"What? It's handled." He replied. Miwa blinked.

"Aichi won?"

"I had to explain the rules as we went along. She's had some experience in the past from… someone." Kai said, looking back at the map and making some marks on it.

"Oh. Okay… then…." Miwa said, at a small loss for words. "Um, so, how's Blitzkrieg and Misaki's team coming along?"

"Blitzkrieg should be arriving soon. Misaki alerted me she might be a little late because of Void soldiers, but it should be no problem." Kai replied. "If you need nothing else, go out and patrol. I'm not paying you to stand around."

"You're not paying me at all. We don't even use the money system anymore." Miwa muttered, before walking forwards. "So, she's a vanguard then?"

"Yeah. Take her patrolling with you some time. I'll teach her some more vanguard skills, then assign her to a station."

"Hmm?" Miwa raised an eyebrow, smirking. "So you're interested in her?"

"… What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's not that bad, although Hitomi and Nee-chan* are more developed in _that _area."

The point of Kai's pencil snapped off. "_GO_, Miwa." Miwa grinned.

"Well see ya!" He waved before walking out. "If you're not gonna do anything then I will!" The door shut, leaving Kai alone in the room with his broken pencil.

"Damn… that pervert…"

* * *

***Nee-chan = An informal way of saying 'Sis', how some refer to girl friends who are older than them. The way Miwa refers to Misaki throughout the series.**

* * *

**Me: Yeah… the chapters are probably gonna get shorter, so hopefully updates will be getting faster. Sorry about the quality of this chapter, I've been busy throughout the month with classes… **

**Me: Anyways, if your OC has not appeared this chapter, then he/she/it will appear in chapter 4 or 5. If he/she/it has not appeared by then, feel free to contact me cause I might have made a miscalculation then.**

**Me: Um… thank you for reading… Review please… Anyways, bye!**

**(I wish Astral was here….)**

**Nina Lim – BoilingInk**

**Yuki Kazami – The Pocketwatch Ripper**


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